Today we ventured off the beaten path to one of the high trails. We hiked straight up the mountain for about 3k to the Santuario of the Madonna of Reggio. At every switchback along the way was one of the stations of the cross. The down was much worse than the up. Finally we both started running just to get the damn thing over. After we finished that hike we went to Monterosso via the train and hiked up to a German WWII bunker. All things war history when you travel with Bill. Took a quick dip in the sea and then climbed around on some rocks. As I was coming over the top of a few rocks I jumped right in the middle of an Italian couple having a special romantic moment. I was mortified but just said “Scusi. I didn’t mean to ruin the moment” Yes of course they spoke English and thankfully they thought it was funny. In departing I advised them that maybe they could just recapture the moment which they also found humorous. At least to my face. Then we proceeded to take the wrong train back to Vernazza and ended up in Le Spezia. Waited 40 minutes for the correct train and finally made it back. Of course the conductor didn’t understand our plea that we got on the wrong train by mistake. He took no pity and exacted a hefty fine for ignorance and lack of rule adherence.
Interrupting the Italian couple will undoubtedly be a trip moment to remember! I think I saw a Rick Steves episode on the Cinque Terre that warned about hopping on the wrong train.
ReplyDeleteApparently, we missed that episode and created our own.
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